The New You: Electronic Shopping Records

7/14/2009

I had a conversation last week with a vendor in the promotions space, located in the UK. He asked me about something I had never heard of before: Vendor Relationship Management. I immediately thought of Supplier Relationship Management, or what has really evolved into B2B portals and eCommerce. But no, this is different: just as brands have customer relationship management, VRM is the reverse, enabling customers to manage and control the relationships that they have with brands - the “vendors” in VRM.

The implications of this seem profound, and would demand a complete shift in how we, as an industry, think about customer data. In the past, RSR has talked about the poor situation loyalty has found itself in, by devolving to a straight pay-for-customer-data scheme. Doesn't an Electronic Shopping Record turn that into an even more explicit equation (albeit with the customer holding the power)? "In order to receive this 25% off coupon you must give me permission to access your ESR?" I'm not sure that I like that kind of future - either as a consumer or as a retailer.

What do you think?

Nikki Baird

Comments

davidharvison@verizon.net

Very unclear about the general advantages to the shopper/consumer. The product you wanted the retailer to carry - how did you find out about it and why could you not purchase it wherever you found it. There is a lot of talk about Consumer Centric marketing, but not a lot of specifics about what that means. If putting all the Baby items in a department would help, why not just do it and see if the consumers react positively. I recall seeing research that most consumers wish the products would just stay where they are, and it's the moving that is most annoying. Overall, the whole idea of tracking shopping in any environment, and using the tracking to gain advantages with brands seems to be making shopping even more of a task and less of a pleasure.

posted 2009-07-14 19:52:30